What's New List Serve Post Display

ARB Newsclips for August 14, 2015.  

This is a service of the California Air Resources Board’s Office
of Communications.  You may need to sign in or register with
individual websites to view some of the following news articles.

CAP AND TRADE

How U.S. Climate Plan Can Follow China and Europe—Or Not. The
U.S. will likely expand “cap and trade” to curb emissions.
Several countries are trying this, but their mixed results may
offer lessons in what not to do. The United States aims to lead
other countries with its climate plan. Yet one of its key but
lesser-known tools, carbon trading, has already taken root across
the globe.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/energy/2015/08/150814-US-climate-plan-lessons-from-China-Europe/


AIR POLLUTION

Air pollution killing 4,000 in China a day, US study find.  Air
pollution is killing about 4,000 people in China a day,
accounting for 1 in 6 premature deaths in the world's most
populous country, a new study finds. Physicists at the University
of California, Berkeley, calculated that about 1.6 million people
in China die each year from heart, lung and stroke…
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_CHINA_POLLUTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
 

OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/14/air-pollution-in-china-is-killing-1-6-million-people-a-year-researchers-say/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/14/world/asia/study-links-polluted-air-in-china-to-1-6-million-deaths-a-year.html?_r=0

http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-air-pollution-killing-4000-in-china-a-day-us-study-finds-2015-8

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/14/air-pollution-in-china-is-killing-4000-people-every-day-a-new-study-finds

http://www.ibtimes.com/china-air-pollution-kills-4000-people-day-study-2053411


Exxon seeks to use old, less-clean equipment at crippled Torrance
refinery.  Exxon Mobil Corp. has asked air quality officials to
allow it to increase refining operations at its Torrance facility
— a move that comes as Los Angeles-area gasoline prices jumped
nearly 6 cents because of refinery woes. Exxon Mobil's plan
includes use of an old pollution-control system to temporarily
replace one damaged in a February explosion.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-exxon-mobil-refinery-20150814-story.html


CLIMATE CHANGE

States Move to Block Obama Administration’s New Carbon Rules.
Fifteen states petition court to issue emergency stay, the first
step in an expected lengthy battle. Fifteen states asked a
federal court Thursday to temporarily block Obama administration
carbon regulations while they mount a full legal challenge to the
rules.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/states-move-to-block-obama-administration-carbon-rules-1439502365

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/14/fifteen-us-states-seek-block-obamas-clean-power-plan

http://www.argusmedia.com/News/Article?id=1087610 
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/08/14/stories/1060023474

What live peer review looks like when the fate of the planet is
at stake.  Last month, a scientific paper appeared that kicked
off what is, by any stretch, the most interesting climate science
debate of the year. In the paper, former NASA climate expert
James Hansen, who is widely credited with putting the climate
issue itself on the map, collaborated with 16 other researchers
to outline a pretty dire climate scenario.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/08/14/what-live-peer-review-looks-like-when-the-planet-is-at-stake/


Alaska's permafrost threatened by intense fires, climate change.
One of the state’s worst wildfire seasons in history has scorched
5 million acres of tundra and forests across Alaska, and experts
here fear climate change will cause even more devastating fires
through a combination of lower snowpack, drying tundra and
melting permafrost.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/13/climate-change-alaska-wildfires/31203153/


Hormel Foods’ Plant Cuts GHG Emissions 60%. Hormel Foods achieved
a 60 percent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions in 2014,
compared to 2013, at its Beijing, China plant after replacing two
coal fire boilers with more efficient steam generators,
relocating the equipment closer to ovens to reduce energy loss…
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2015/08/14/hormel-foods-plant-cuts-ghg-emissions-60/#ixzz3ioRx6Oom


How Smart Grid and Demand Response Could Fit Into the Clean Power
Plan. Pathway to credits for CO2-cutting grid and demand-side
tech—and a boost to solar-wind integration enablers. Less dirty
energy, more clean energy. These are the fundamental drivers of
the Clean Power Plan's push to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions, and while that’s a potential boon to wind and solar
power…
http://www.theenergycollective.com/jeffstjohn/2259677/how-smart-grid-and-demand-response-could-fit-clean-power-plan


Australia's emissions cut target 'at or near bottom' of
comparable countries. Climate Change Authority chairman Bernie
Fraser says ‘more ambitious targets than those adopted by the
government can be achieved at modest costs’. he independent
Climate Change Authority has shot down key parts of Tony Abbott’s
new environmental message…
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/14/australias-emissions-cut-target-at-or-near-bottom-of-comparable-countries


EL NINO

Federal experts: This El Nino may be historically strong.  The
current El Nino, nicknamed Bruce Lee, is already the second
strongest on record for this time of year and could be one of the
most potent weather changers of the past 65 years, federal
meteorologists say. But California and other drought struck areas
better not count on El Nino rescuing them like in a Bruce Lee
action movie, experts say.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_EL_NINO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Q&A: Drought-weary California hopes El Nino means wet winter.
Chances are strong that a record-setting El Nino is headed toward
California this winter. What is unknown is how it will play out
for the state beset by four years of drought that fallowed farm
fields, turned lawns brown and dried up streams and wells.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CALIFORNIA_EL_NINO_QA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


OTHER RELATED STORIES
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/el-nino-likely-this-winter-for-drought-weary-california/2015/08/14/1c7f32ca-424d-11e5-9f53-d1e3ddfd0cda_story.html


A huge El Niño could devastate Southern California. It started in
October 1997 in Mexico, when a hurricane fueled by El Niño
slammed into Acapulco, causing massive flooding and hundreds of
deaths. A few weeks later, storms started hitting Southern
California. Then in December, the skies opened up in Orange
County in what meteorologists described as the biggest rainstorm
in a century.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-huge-el-nino-could-devastate-southern-california-20150813-story.html


Coming El Niño to pack a punch, so experts named it ‘Bruce Lee'.
The current El Niño, nicknamed Bruce Lee, is already the second
strongest on record for this time of year and could be one of the
most potent weather changers of the past 65 years, federal
meteorologists say.  But California and other drought-struck
areas better not count on El Niño rescuing them like Bruce Lee in
an action movie, experts say.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/ni241o-333716-ocprint-bruce-lee.html


DROUGHT

Heat wave heightens danger in an already epic summer of fire.
Northern winds that siphon moisture from the air. Flames that run
rampant at night after aircraft have been grounded. Flying embers
that spark more blazes. And now, rising temperatures are expected
throughout the state. The obstacles are only intensifying for
crews fighting wildfires across Northern California, where years
of drought have altered the landscape and set an unpredictable
stage.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-california-wildfires-reach-new-heights-heat-wave-brings-new-dangers-20150812-story.html


Wealthy city big winner in drought lawn rebate program. For
homeowners with sprawling lawns who sought rebate money for
switching to less thirsty landscaping, it paid to move quickly.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California for a time
offered $2 per square foot of lawn removed with no limit on the
size of the rebate.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-turf-rebates-20150812-story.html


Brewery hopes to tap creative minds to deal with drought. It's a
new approach to an old-school solution for a state gripped by
severe drought: Place a brick in a toilet tank to conserve water
with every flush. The new version, dubbed Drop-A-Brick 2.0, will
be unveiled Thursday as part of an unusual effort to stimulate
water-saving inventions through crowdsourcing and crowdfunding. 
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-drought-inventions-20150813-story.html


Drought, then rain undermined Pasadena tree that fell on
children.  Prolonged drought, a lack of strong roots and a burst
of heavy rain were the main reasons an 85-foot pine toppled and
injured children in a Pasadena park last month, an arborist's
report said Thursday. The massive, city-owned Italian stone pine
came crashing down on young day campers outside the Kidspace
Museum at Brookside Park on July 28.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-pasadena-tree-0150813-story.html
 

DIESEL ACTIVITIES

California Aims to Regulate Sustainability Into Freight System.
Viewed from a year out, it's hard to know how green or blue the
freight plan California is cooking up will turn out to be for
trucking. When it comes to rolling out regulations, California
leads the nation. Rules written by the Golden State, due to its
immense population and gargantuan economic might, tend to be
adopted sooner or later by other states and to influence federal
rulemaking.
http://www.truckinginfo.com/article/story/2015/08/california-aims-to-regulate-sustainability-into-freight-system.aspx?utm_campaign=Headline-News-20150814&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Enewsletter&btm_ea=cGphY29ic0BhcmIuY2EuZ292


FUELS

Japan Environment Minister Won’t Back Another Coal-Fired Plant.
Japan’s environment minister said he won’t support a new coal
power station planned for central Japan, the latest push by the
ministry to rein in coal projects to control the nation’s
greenhouse gas emissions. The move, by Yoshio Mochizuki, pits the
environment ministry against the trade and industry ministry…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-14/japan-environment-minister-won-t-back-another-coal-fired-plant


Sacramento’s Propel Fuels takes ‘high-performance’ diesel to
Southern California. Sacramento-based Propel Fuels, a retailer of
low-carbon vehicle fuels, is rolling out its “high-performance
renewable” diesel fuel in Southern California. In March,
Sacramento motorists were among the first to fill up with “Diesel
HPR” – short for High Performance Renewable – which is
manufactured almost entirely from various plant- and animal-based
waste…
http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article31011423.html#storylink=cpy


GREEN ENERGY

RPT - ANALYSIS-Solar is having a great year, except on Wall
Street. By almost any measure, the U.S. solar market is on fire.
Installations of solar panels are expected to soar by a third
this year, the price of solar power is now cheap enough to
compete neck and neck with gas and coal-fired power in places
like California, and the fledgling industry received a vote of
confidence last week…
http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL1N10O32120150814
 

Distributed solar PV prices fell sharply for 5th straight year –
DOE. The installed price of distributed solar power fell by 40
cents per watt for U.S. residential and small-scale photovoltaic
(PV) systems between 2013 and 2014, while large nonresidential
systems saw costs fall by an average of 70 cents per watt,
according to new Energy Department data released this week.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2015/08/14/stories/1060023465 

OPINIONS

Editorial Feinstein-Boxer water bill offers real drought relief.
It's in many ways a pleasant surprise: The latest water bill
introduced by California's two U.S. senators, Democrats Dianne
Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, offers the state some serious help
as the Sierra snowpack becomes a less reliable source of fresh
water. If the bill were to advance on its own, it would be a good
base from which to work.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-drought-relief-legislation-congress-20150814-story.html


Michael Gerson: Hunting for a miracle on global warming. In
recognition that Internet questionnaires get more eyeballs than
earnest columns on energy policy, here is today’s quiz on obscure
presidential history: When President George W. Bush met Bill
Gates for the first time, the topic of discussion was (A) nuclear
power, (B) rural Internet access, (C) global health or (D) all of
those subjects…
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article31029813.html 

What, me worry about climate change? Uh, yeah. Jim Schweitzer's
letter to the editor, "Carbon dioxide regulates itself, keeps us
from freezing to death," again shows us how climate-change
deniers misinform the public. His bottom line was the earth
self-regulates its global temperature and that the CO2 we put
into the atmosphere is all absorbed by rocks and the oceans, so
we shouldn't worry.
http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/letters/2015/08/13/climate-change-carbon-dioxide/31669641/


Letters: Sorry, descendants, for our role in global warming. Re:
Robert Samuelson’s Aug. 10 commentary, “Curbing global warming:
Mission impossible?” After reading his article, I thought that,
since civilization has caused this “superwicked” problem of
global warming, it is only morally right to do the civilized
thing: admit our mistake, and punt. Real men and women aren’t
afraid to say they were wrong!
http://www.montereyherald.com/opinion/20150813/letters-sorry-descendants-for-our-role-in-global-warming


Editorial: Solar power: Spending on the future. If our path to
reliance on a “renewable” energy system was a summer vacation
road trip, the answer to the incessant, “Are we there yet?”
question would be, “Heck, let’s get out of the driveway first.”
That’s an exaggeration but it highlights the fact that although
considerable work and money has been put into renewable energies…
http://www.dailyrecordnews.com/opinion/editorial-solar-power-spending-on-the-future/article_4a6ee302-4206-11e5-aa46-eb78eee857f1.html


Death by a Thousand Cuts. It’s common knowledge that polar bears,
and their primary prey the ringed seal, might go extinct this
century as the Arctic sea ice melts because rising levels of
atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG) are warming the planet.
Hearing this news, many Americans likely felt something akin to,
“Gee, that’s a shame,” but the country did little more than shrug
its collective shoulders before getting back to business as
usual.
http://sandiegofreepress.org/2015/08/death-by-a-thousand-cuts/ 

BLOGS

Researchers Detail Carbon Output from Rivers and Streams.  Work
by a University of Wyoming professor and a recent UW Ph.D.
graduate has provided a more complete picture of the role of
rivers and streams in the global carbon cycle.
http://www.uwyo.edu/uw/news/2015/08/researchers-detail-carbon-output-from-rivers-and-streams.html


Climate Fiction: Can Books Save the Planet?  A new literary genre
that focuses on the consequences of environmental issues is
striking a chord with younger generations—and engaging them in
thinking about the Earth’s sustainability.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/08/climate-fiction-margaret-atwood-literature/400112/




California is in a drought emergency.
Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.